North Carolina Botanical Garden

Plant Index

Scientific Name:
Common Name:
Genus:
Family:

Trillium catesbaei

Trillium catesbaei Elliott

catesby’s trillium, bashful trillium, bashful wakerobin, rosy wake-robin

Image ID: 19422
Image by: Stuart, Will
Image Collection: NCBG Digital Library

PLANT INDEX

ID_PLANT: TRCA11
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Trillium catesbaei
Include in WOTAS: 1
Publish to Web: 1
Last Modified: 2018-10-03

GENUS INDEX

GENUS CODE: TRILL
GENUS SCIENTIFIC: Trillium
GENUS AUTHORITY: L.
GENUS COMMON: Trillium
GENUS SUMMARY: A genus of about 50 species, of e. North America, w. North America, and e. Asia (especially se. North America). The genus Trillium in our area is difficult and complex. Trillium is now usually separated from the Liliaceae (along with Eurasian genera such as Paris) into the Trilliaceae (Zomlefer 1996, Kato et al. 1995, Kawano & Kato 1995, and others) or less drastically as part of the Melanthiaceae (Chase et al. 2000; Tamura et al. 2004). The traditonal division of the genus into two well-marked subgenera, subgenus Trillium, the pedicellate trilliums, and subgenus Sessilium (formerly often called Phyllantherum; see Reveal & Gandhi [2014]), the sessile-flowered trilliums, has been partly supported by molecular and morphological phylogenetic studies (Kawano & Kato 1995, Kato et al. 1995). These studies support the monophyly of subgenus Sessilium, but suggest that subgenus Trillium consists of several groups which are only rather distantly related (Kawano & Kato 1995, Kazempour Osaloo et al. 1999; Farmer & Schilling 2002).
GENUS IDENTIFICATION: Identification notes: Teratological forms are frequent in some species, as, for instance, leaves, sepals, and stamens in 2s or 4s, petals sepaloid, or sepals petaloid, and so forth. What are called �leaves� in Trillium are actually interpreted as bracts by some. Most species are slow-growing perennials; seedlings, juveniles, and depauperate or tired plants are one-leaved (monilliums), recognizable by the similar color, texture and venation of the single leaf to the three leaves of mature plants. In some species, such as T. undulatum and taxa of the T. pusillum complex, individual plants remain in the single-leaf stage for long periods of time, and populations may consist largely of juvenile plants.
GENUS REFERENCES: Patrick (1986)=Z; Patrick (2007)=V; Freeman (1975)=Y; Case & Case 1997=X; Patrick in Wofford (1989); Case in FNA (2002a); Mitchell (1990); Kato et al. (1995); Kawano & Kato (1995); Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a); Zomlefer (1996); Farmer & Schilling (2002). Key adapted from Patrick (1986, 2007), unpublished keys of J.D. Freeman and S. Farmer, and other sources.

FAMILY INDEX

FAMILY CODE: TRILLI
FAMILY SCIENTIFIC: Trilliaceae
FAMILY AUTHORITY: Lindley 1846
FAMILY COMMON: Trillium Family
FAMILY SUMMARY: A family of 5 genera and about 80 species, perennial herbs, of temperate Northern Hemisphere. The Trilliaceae is clearly monophyletic and strongly characterized morphologically, scarcely resembling its sibling groups; its recognition as a family seems well-warranted.
FAMILY REFERENCE: Farmer & Schilling (2002).

NCBG DESCRIPTIVES

INTRO: Erect perennial of bottomland forests, moist slopes and cove forests.
STEMS: Stems single from an underground rhizome, unbranched, green to purplish, smooth.
LEAVES: Leaves a whorl of 3 at top of stem, short-petiolate, elliptic, to 6 in. long.
INFLORESCENCE:
FLOWERS: Flower solitary, held below leaves on stalk emerging from center of leaf whorl; pink (rarely white); about 1 1/2 in. wide; consisting of 3 narrow, green-tinged-with-pink sepals, 3 wider and strongly recurved petals, 6 yellow stamens (twisted) and a white ovary.
FRUITS: Fruit a greenish-white, oval, berry-like pod.
COMMENTS:
HEIGHT: 10-18 in.

DURATION: Perennial
HABIT: Herb

LEAF ARRANGEMENT: Whorled
LEAF COMPLEXITY: Simple
LEAF RETENTION:

FLORAL CHARACTERISTICS
SYMMETRY: Radial (Actinomorphic)
BLOOM TIME: Late Mar-early Jun

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
		x	x	x	x

BLOOM COLOR: Pink

White	Red	Pink	Orange	Yellow	Green	Blue	Lavender	Purple	Violet	Brown	Not Applicable
		x

FRUITING PERIOD: Jul-Aug.

DISTRIBUTION
HABITAT TYPE: Bottomlands, Moist forests
NATIVE RANGE: southeastern United States

HORTICULTURAL
Plant Sale Text:

Bloom Table Text:

NCBG Location:

Cultural Notes:

SOIL MOISTURE:
LIGHT EXPOSURE:
MINIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
MAXIMUM HARDINESS ZONE:
GERMINATION CODE:
WILDLIFE VALUE:
DEER RESISTANCE:

GRIM COLLECTIONS

Coll_id	Project	Collection date	Collector	Action
192	HORT	2008-05-05	Keith	View
1560	HORT	2005-08-04	Lewandowski	View

GRIM ACCESSIONS

acc_id	acc_num	acc_dt	coll_id	Action
193	2011-0004	2011-01-04	192	View
2650	1987-0098			View
3149	1989-0114			View
3397	1991-0026			View
4173	1992-0329			View
5003	1995-0122			View
5208	1995-0327			View
6353	1995-1485			View
9499	2022-0019	2022-07-19	0	View

GRIM PLANTINGS

plt_num	acc_id	loc_num	pers_num	inst_dt	Action
376	193	25	Heiney	2011-03-29	View
377	193	24	Wenck	2011-04-07	View
4437	2650	81	NCBG staff	1986-11-22	View
5286	3149	75	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
5634	3397	78	NCBG staff	1990-05-30	View
6501	4173	200	NCBG staff	1993-03-01	View
7422	5003	202	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
7661	5208	203	NCBG staff	1992-01-01	View
9008	6353	2	NCBG staff	0000-00-00	View
13176	9499	81	Briggs	2022-05-26	View

USDA PLANTS DATABASE

USDA Symbol: TRCA11
USDA Common Name: Bashful Wakerobin
Native Status: L48 (N)
Distribution: USA (AL, GA, MD, NC, SC, TN)
Duration: Perennial
Growth Habit: Forb/herb

WEAKLEY FLORA

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Trillium catesbaei
COMMON NAME: Catesby's Trillium, Bashful Trillium, Rosy Wake-robin
SYNONYMY: [= FNA, K, RAB, S, Tn, V, W, X, Z]
PHENOLOGY: Late Mar-early Jun; Jul-Aug.
HABITAT: Bottomland forests, mesic slopes, cove forests.
COMMENTS: Nc. NC south to sw. GA and se. AL, north in the interior to n. AL and se. TN, centered in the Piedmont from NC to GA, but extending into the Mountains and Coastal Plain. This species is morphologically and genetically complex and may include several semi-crypti taxa. Petals white to pink.
RANGE MAP: Trillium catesbaei.png

Key to Map Symbols

ABOUT FAMILY (Weakley Flora)
Trilliaceae Lindley 1846 (Trillium Family)
SUMMARY: A family of 5 genera and about 80 species, perennial herbs, of temperate Northern Hemisphere. The Trilliaceae is clearly monophyletic and strongly characterized morphologically, scarcely resembling its sibling groups; its recognition as a family seems well-warranted.
REFERENCE: Farmer & Schilling (2002).

ABOUT GENUS (Weakley Flora)
Trillium L. (Trillium)
SUMMARY: A genus of about 50 species, of e. North America, w. North America, and e. Asia (especially se. North America). The genus Trillium in our area is difficult and complex. Trillium is now usually separated from the Liliaceae (along with Eurasian genera such as Paris) into the Trilliaceae (Zomlefer 1996, Kato et al. 1995, Kawano & Kato 1995, and others) or less drastically as part of the Melanthiaceae (Chase et al. 2000; Tamura et al. 2004). The traditonal division of the genus into two well-marked subgenera, subgenus Trillium, the pedicellate trilliums, and subgenus Sessilium (formerly often called Phyllantherum; see Reveal & Gandhi [2014]), the sessile-flowered trilliums, has been partly supported by molecular and morphological phylogenetic studies (Kawano & Kato 1995, Kato et al. 1995). These studies support the monophyly of subgenus Sessilium, but suggest that subgenus Trillium consists of several groups which are only rather distantly related (Kawano & Kato 1995, Kazempour Osaloo et al. 1999; Farmer & Schilling 2002).
REFERENCE: Patrick (1986)=Z; Patrick (2007)=V; Freeman (1975)=Y; Case & Case 1997=X; Patrick in Wofford (1989); Case in FNA (2002a); Mitchell (1990); Kato et al. (1995); Kawano & Kato (1995); Tamura in Kubitzki (1998a); Zomlefer (1996); Farmer & Schilling (2002). Key adapted from Patrick (1986, 2007), unpublished keys of J.D. Freeman and S. Farmer, and other sources.

HERBARIUM RESOURCES

SERNEC: Find Trillium catesbaei in Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)
UNC SERNEC: Find Trillium catesbaei in University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Herbarium - Southeast Regional Network of Experts and Collections (if available)

WEB RESOURCES

USDA: Find Trillium catesbaei in USDA Plants
NPIN: Find Trillium catesbaei in NPIN Database
FNA: Find Trillium catesbaei in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Trillium catesbaei

IMAGE USE RECORDS

ID IMAGE: 19422 - Primary Image FloraQuest Plant Detail Page (Landscape Preferred)
ID IMAGE1: 25766 - Primary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE2: 0 - Secondary Image WOTAS
ID IMAGE3: 9676 - Primary Image Plant Sale Sign (Landscape Only)
ID IMAGE4: 0 - Primary Image New Plant Sale Label (Portrait Only)